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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Reset: Living Room

Today for my house reset I did the living room. This is the room that anyone who comes to my house sees. It would be done the first day if I didn't know that a clean kitchen makes everything else function better. Plus, not that many people come to my house.
All right, so same thing with this room, I started with the smallest, easiest area. It's like a debt snowball: start with something you can do quickly.
First was the piano: I cleared off things that didn't belong, wiped and polished it, and put a new scripture to memorize up on the white board. 15 minutes.

Before. Not too bad.

After. Ah!

Next I did the tv area. Why do I have this area? (sigh)
Oh well, it's there so I'll clean it. I cleared off the top (put everything where it goes, not just move it) and wiped it down and labeled all the unlabeled green boxes. I also took down the unused picture frame since I STILL have not gotten the picture printed. I also mailed off something sitting on the top I was supposed to mail last week. 30 minutes for tv area.

By the way, I don't have a leak in my roof. It's the camera. Or a ghost. OooooWooooooh!
And since I'm being truthful, that big box of baby clothes was moved to the girls' room. I have no idea where to put it until I give it to my friend.

Bookcases. I have 3. Well, 4, but one is in my room.
Didn't I JUST purge books last year? Oh wait, then I decided to homeschool. All right, I suppose 4 is fine.
It's not that it's an awful mess here, it's just that things haven't been put away and they're starting to stack on top of each other. Each one took 30 minutes. It seems like a lot, but I moved some shelves and really put things away. Tedious things like pens and crayons. And then I labeled things. Labels help my husband to know where to put things. I like labels.

The one on the right is my homeschool bookcase. Left is office and cub scouts.

This next book case was pretty easy. It has reference and religious books. Mostly it just needed to be spruced up. Apart from 1 thing. We had SIX BIBLES. This is in addition to the ones we take to church.

So I cleared off the top (including 3 of the bibles) and put those things where they go, then I dusted and straightened the shelves and moved some books around after taking out 3 more bibles. Only 15 minutes.

Also, can you see what my light is on in the corner there? A useful spot for a bucket of wheat.

Now the rest of the room, I took the bag and a box of tools to the shed/carport, made the kids take their books back to their rooms, picked up (and mostly tossed) the papers, and vacuumed. Thoroughly. So this was 30 minutes.

Total for the living room was 2 1/2 hours. It felt longer today, but when I stopped the vacuum the kids and I looked at each other and smiled. It felt so good to be in that room. It just plain felt good!
Later I walked into the bathroom/laundry, which is tomorrow's room. Honestly, the worst part is above the dryer. I was feeling peppy so I gave myself 15 minutes to just see what I could put away.

Almost ALL of it. I was happily surprised! And very proud that I stopped there. I'm already looking forward to cleaning tomorrow because I didn't overdo it today.

Tomorrow: clean the bathroom (should be under 1 hour) and start the worst room in the house. MINE (gulp)

5 comments:

WOO HOO! Awesome. I'm tackling my girls' room tomorrow. DREADING IT! Your living room looks fab. So what did you do with all the Bibles? I never know what to do with sacred books...toss them? Donate them? Keep them even though I don't need them?

About Me

I'm a stay at home mom of four with a bit of a crunchy side. I started wearing jewelry again. It's ok, I guess. I love home improvement, sewing, gardening, and learning. I write about my yard, homeschooling, trying to make my small house work for us, and general life stuff. I love small homes.